CFRSIO Chapter 28

The Demon King of Bo Shui’s palace was underwater, a magnificent crystal palace.

Bo Ming, who had transformed into a small red-headed bird, was enveloped in a transparent bubble before entering the crystal palace.

He arrived at the Bo Shui Demon King’s palace. The Bo Shui Demon King lay lazily on her enormous shell bed, with a familiar little mouse by her side.

It was being poked by the Demon King’s slender fingernails, one after another.

The little mouse demon was currently playing dead. It moved with practiced skill. Bo Ming averted his gaze after a single glance, chuckling at how fiercely possessive their Demon King was. He didn’t want to be sent to some remote place. Besides, it was the little mouse demon’s own fault for provoking the Qingyun Demon King.

Upon closer inspection of the Bo Shui Demon King’s face, one would find a slight resemblance to the woman Lin Yunliang had encountered on the ship’s deck, the little mouse demon. The Bo Shui Demon King’s face was more delicate and alluring. It was clear that the little mouse demon’s appearance was an imitation of this Demon King.

“Have you seen Qingyun?”

“Yes.”

“Did he say why he came to my place?” the Bo Shui Demon King said.

Her actions with her hands did not cease. She continued to tease the little mouse demon, making it play dead even more.

It was amusing. She didn’t expose it.

The Bo Shui Demon King had discovered Lin Yunliang from the moment he appeared, but the little mouse demon was not sent by her. Today’s events were purely coincidental. At least, the Bo Shui Demon King had no intention of being enemies with other Demon Kings.

Therefore, she would not intentionally send out a minor demon to trouble the Qingyun Demon King. Moreover, that fellow was also a Demon King, just like herself. Sending out minor demons would only be sending them to their deaths. She quite liked this little mouse demon, so she wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Qingyun Demon King didn’t mention this matter. However, Qingyun Demon King did say something else.”

“Oh?” Bo Shui was now very interested.

She and Qingyun Demon King could be considered anomalies among the few existing Demon Kings. She stayed out of worldly affairs, and apart from that one time when Qingyun Demon King took action, there was no news of him emerging.

Oh, and this time. Initially, Bo Shui thought he was going to find Chu Shi. She was aware of how Qingyun Demon King had insisted on marrying a demon seductress back then. But now, it seemed it wasn’t because of Chu Shi.

Because judging by Lin Yunliang’s path, he seemed to be heading south, while Chu Shi was currently suffering in the bitterly cold regions of the north with Shi Ren.

Shi Ren’s intention to conquer Qingyun Mountain would not have spread, but before they left Qingyun Mountain, they were caught in a hallucination cast by an elder fox demon of Qingyun Mountain, revealing everything they should and shouldn’t have said.

This was how everyone learned of Chu Shi and Shi Ren’s scheme.

The status of a demon seductress was low. Shi Ren, as the young master of a prestigious family of demon hunters, actually listened to the one-sided words of a demon seductress. Wasn’t he a laughingstock? This matter spread further and further, becoming more and more exaggerated.

It was even said that Shi Ren had gotten involved with that demon seductress. The reason he was going there, besides truly wanting to seize the opportunity to attack, was also out of a desire to fight for his lover.

Bo Shui found all of this extremely amusing.

However, she didn’t know that some of these rumors were indeed the truth. It’s just that Chu Shi’s matter hadn’t been successful yet, and Shi Ren’s strength was limited, so the emotional journey for the two of them still had a way to go.

Naturally, these were not things they needed to concern themselves with.

Bo Shui didn’t believe rumors; she was even more shocked by the news brought back by Bo Ming.

“Curse Stone? Are you sure?” Bo Shui became much more serious.

“I’ve examined it, and it is indeed a curse stone without a doubt.” Bo Ming presented the black stone. “However, this stone looks ordinary. I don’t know how Qingyun Demon King discovered it.”

The first time Bo Ming saw this stone, he really didn’t discover anything. If he hadn’t been cautious and persisted, he would have really thought it was an ordinary stone.

Now, it seemed it wasn’t an ordinary stone.

Bo Shui took the stone and played with this seemingly ordinary black stone. “Did Qingyun say where he found it?”

“He said he bought it on the road. As for the specifics, Qingyun Demon King didn’t say anything further.”

Bo Shui nodded in understanding. Staring at the stone in her hand, her heart began to pound. The curse stones had disappeared for hundreds of years; how could they suddenly appear for no reason?

Was there truly no manipulation involved in this?

“Demon King, what should we do next?”

“I will handle this curse stone. You take the other minor demons and search again to see if there are any other curse stones.”

There were originally five curse stones that appeared back then. Three were later sealed one after another. As for the last two, there was no trace of them. Since one had already appeared, it was likely that the other four…

I don’t know what heaven is thinking, to allow such a thing to appear.

Bo Shui felt a terrible headache.

After receiving the order, Bo Ming retreated.

Let’s switch focus. What happened to the two people escaping in the bitter cold regions of the north?

They were quite miserable. Although many demon hunters practiced asceticism, Shi Ren came from a good background and had decent talent; he didn’t need to follow the path of asceticism.

Both of them grew up in relatively warm southern regions. Now, to escape, they went to the north. They were unfamiliar with the place, and because they didn’t understand the situation in the north enough, both of them were now injured.

The journey was extremely arduous.

This caused the feelings between the two to gradually heat up. Although it wasn’t as earth-shattering as in the original plot, it was still a genuine heartfelt connection.

The two found a cave and temporarily settled there. Chu Shi was a demon, and his physical fitness was much better than Shi Ren’s, who was human. So, he took the initiative to take on the responsibility of caring for Shi Ren.

In fact, Chu Shi also felt some regret. After all, he had solemnly promised people before that he would definitely lead them to level Qingyun Mountain. Now that the promise was not fulfilled, he had also caused Shi Ren to flee with him in such a sorry state.

Shi Ren was generous and took Chu Shi’s hand, saying softly, “This is not your fault.”

“It’s all that Lin Yunliang! He’s so cunning!” Shi Ren indeed didn’t blame Chu Shi.

To some extent, Chu Shi was his first friend. Their destiny was not shallow, and Chu Shi had always been devoted to him. Even Chu Shi’s escape was planned by him.

“It’s good that you believe me.” Chu Shi had taken good care of Shi Ren along the way, at least Shi Ren’s condition was much better than his own. Because of his guilt, even most of the food he found went into Shi Ren’s stomach.

Chu Shi didn’t blame himself; he only hated himself for not fulfilling what he had promised. This made him sad. After hearing such words from Shi Ren, he was immediately deeply moved.

“Shi Ren, don’t worry, I will definitely find a way to get back Lin Yunliang’s demon core for you!”

“That was originally yours; there’s no reason to let others benefit from it for nothing.”

“Thank you, Chu Shi.” Their clasped hands began to grow intimate. “You really are the person who treats me the best in the world.”

“Of course,” Chu Shi said, feeling each other’s warmth, his cheeks turning red. “Don’t worry, I will always be by your side.”

Inside the cave, passion burned like fire. Outside the cave, figures flashed by.

“Are you sure the person is inside?”

“Should be inside,” the shorter one said.

The taller one hit him on the head. “It is or it isn’t, why is there ‘should be’!”

The shorter one cupped his head, feeling a little wronged. “I don’t know either. I just saw a human and a demon walking together.”

“I haven’t seen Shi Ren and Chu Shi before!”

“You have the nerve to talk back without gathering clear information!” The taller one’s face stiffened, his expression clearly not very good.

The shorter one couldn’t say anything more and could only shrink his neck.

Let alone the shorter one, even the taller one himself didn’t know what these two looked like. He only knew that one was a demon and the other was a human.

It was rare for humans and demons to appear together. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be two people entering a cave together.

They all knew that humans, especially demon hunters, looked down on demons the most. If they fell into their hands, death was the best relief.

“But why is the boss looking for them?”

“Isn’t Chu Shi a demon seductress? Why would we look for that kind of demon?”

“And even if catching Chu Shi is understandable, why catch Shi Ren as well?”

The identity of a demon seductress was not good to begin with. Chu Shi was also suspected of attempting to lead demon hunters into Qingyun Mountain. To put it bluntly, this was betraying his own kind!

Most demons who became demon seductresses before were lone demons without relatives or territories, so those who had territories did not issue a death order for these demon seductresses.

But now, such a matter had arisen. Qingyun Mountain was now closed, which further proved Chu Shi’s suspicion. Therefore, other Demon Kings had ordered their minor demons to find Chu Shi’s whereabouts.

As for Shi Ren, he came from an extraordinary background. Among the few surviving demon hunter families, only the Shi family had preserved their strength the most completely. Even Demon Kings would not easily provoke them.

But they had received orders from a Demon King to not only catch Chu Shi but also Shi Ren.

It was no wonder the minor demons were afraid.

“We… should leave. Let’s report back to the Demon King.”

“Wait a moment,” the taller one suddenly said in a low voice, pulling the other person down to squat.

“?” The shorter one didn’t understand what was going on. He looked at his brother with confusion.

But he saw his brother’s expression gradually become lewd.

“???” What did you hear that made you like this???

His brother’s gaze was too obvious, so the taller one restrained his expression and explained in a low voice to the shorter one.

The taller one’s hearing was almost the best among the group of minor demons, comparable to Shun Feng Er (a mythological figure with super hearing). Therefore, he could always hear outside movements in advance. Thus, the Demon King had specifically sent people to scout.

Who knew that upon arriving, they would hear something stimulating.

“Really!? They really are…”

“Do we still need to go find the Demon King now?”

“Hehe, let’s go!”

However, the minor demons had underestimated Shi Ren. His thoughts were naive, but that didn’t mean he truly lacked brains.

The two minor demons didn’t gain any advantage; instead, they were burned by Shi Ren using a talisman. The fire talismans of demon hunters had always been renowned good items.

Chu Shi was also on the side, helping to keep watch. They knew they would be exposed, but they didn’t expect it to be so soon.

“Damn it! These cunning demons!” Shi Ren cursed, not mentioning what had just happened.

“Shi Ren, it’s probably not safe here anymore. We should leave quickly.” Chu Shi still felt a little awkward. He was also a demon.

Although he knew Shi Ren was good to him, he always felt a little awkward inside.

Of course, this feeling quickly disappeared because he knew that the most important thing now was to leave here, otherwise, they would be discovered by Xue Mian’s subordinates at any time.

“Okay. Let’s go quickly!”

It was fortunate they left quickly enough because just a few minutes after they left, more people came looking for them.

Shi Ren’s situation was not peaceful, and neither was the Shi family.

Shi Ren’s father, Shi Xiangyang, was currently being pressured by people in the family. The reason was simple: it was all because of Shi Ren.

“Ming Zhi, although you are the clan leader now, you must also consider the other clan members, right?”

“Exactly. Now that Shi Ren has caused such a mess, not only is it a half-hearted effort, but it has also disgraced the entire Shi family.”

“More than just disgrace. Shi Ren’s actions this time were too reckless. If humans knew about these things, how would they view demon hunters and the Shi family in the future?”

One by one, they were now rushing to find trouble with him.

“Since that’s the case, why don’t the elders in the clan find a more outstanding clan disciple for the position of clan leader?”

Saying this, he directly took off the thumb ring he was wearing and placed it on the table.

This indicated his intention.

The thumb ring was a symbol of the Shi family patriarch and also a remarkable magical artifact. One of the key requirements to become the Shi family patriarch was to gain the recognition of the thumb ring artifact.

And to the embarrassment of everyone, currently, only two people in the entire Shi family could gain the recognition of the thumb ring artifact: Shi Xiangyang and Shi Ren.

Therefore, the clan almost trained the person as the next clan leader. And as it turned out, this was not wrong. Because Shi Ren, at such a young age, displayed abilities that were clearly beyond ordinary people.

But they only focused on cultivating his skills and completely forgot to cultivate his character, which led this fellow to do things that no one expected.

The elders of the clan were all shrewd individuals. Who couldn’t see that Shi Ren’s actions at the time were intentional? To save face, they declared externally that Chu Shi had escaped on his own.

At the same time, they put pressure on Shi Ren, demanding that Shi Ren must personally find Chu Shi, otherwise the clan would revoke all his original treatment.

Shi Ren was obedient and went, but this fellow brought another big surprise to their Shi family.

Demon hunters despised demons, but over the years, they had formed a tacit understanding with demons. Demon Kings would restrain their subordinates and not allow them to do anything that harmed humans.

Similarly, as demon hunters, they would not attack those minor demons.

Therefore, although they continued to hunt demons over the years, they only captured lone demons and never attacked the subordinates of Demon Kings.

But this time, Shi Ren not only attacked but also cooperated with a demon seductress to eliminate the mountain demons and Demon King of Qingyun Mountain, and was even close to success.

The Shi family had become untrustworthy, becoming a laughingstock.

However, everyone present also knew another thing: if this matter had succeeded.

Then the situation would be different. It was just a pity that it failed.

Shi Xiangyang’s move indicated that he stood with Shi Ren, which made the other elders of the aristocratic family somewhat awkward. They didn’t really expect Shi Xiangyang to throw away the position.

“What are you saying? The elders of the clan are just worried that Shi Ren has met the wrong person and has been deceived by that minor demon.”

“Exactly, exactly. We are all family, why say such things? Quickly take it back.”

Shi Xiangyang sneered and had no intention of giving his elders face. “Now you remember we are family?”

“What was that aggressive attitude just now?”

“Not only are you my elders, but you are also Shi Ren’s elders. You have all watched Shi Ren grow up since childhood, so how can you not know his character? How can you do such a thing as to interrogate him like this?”

“If I remember correctly, Shi Ren has earned a lot while hunting demons outside over the years. I wonder where that money has ended up.”

Shi Xiangyang was not unaware that the clan elders were greedy. Greed was one thing. Now, he was managing the entire Shi family. The main portion wouldn’t flow away. What truly angered Shi Xiangyang was that the outside world was watching them as a joke, and yet the people within the clan were causing trouble first.

Truly clueless.

“Xiangyang, don’t say such things. We all trust Shi Ren, and we trust you.”

“It’s best if it’s like that.” Shi Xiangyang said.

He put the thumb ring back on. It wasn’t that no one had anything to say; some wanted to speak, but they were stopped by the people beside them. Only then did no one speak.

“Since everyone is so sensible, then this matter will be entrusted to Shi Ren.”

“If everyone has nothing else to say, then you can all go and rest.” Shi Xiangyang calmly issued the order to leave. With such an attitude, how could he give them a good face?

After everyone left, his subordinate hesitated and said, “Patriarch, regarding this matter, shouldn’t we still…?”

Before the subordinate could finish speaking, Shi Xiangyang glared at him. Did he not know to inform Shi Ren first? But the key was that even he didn’t know where Shi Ren was right now.

“Shi Ren is not young anymore,” Shi Xiangyang said. Regarding the child he had raised himself, he still had some trust in his heart. “When I was his age, I had already come of age.”

“Unlike him, who is still staying at home.”

The subordinate smiled and only spoke pleasantries. “Patriarch, you are naturally extraordinary. The Shi family has only had you in many years who possessed the ability to directly reclaim the ancestral ring.”

As for anything else, they didn’t say much more.

Shi Xiangyang was naturally very satisfied. While wearing a smile, he couldn’t hide some of the anxiety in his heart. He had spoken righteously just now, but this matter was indeed not in their favor. Moreover, Shi Xiangyang realized for the first time that there were some aspects of the child he had raised himself that he couldn’t understand.

For example, he really couldn’t see what was so good about Chu Shi that he could make Shi Ren so reckless.

But as his son, Shi Xiangyang still trusted him very much.

Lin Yunliang’s journey was not as smooth as he had imagined. They had left Bo Shui’s territory and returned to land. This territory was a human town, not belonging to any Demon King. For some unknown reason, they encountered robbers on the road.

This originally had nothing to do with him until Cang Shu discovered that the group of people carried the aura of Qingyun Mountain’s mountain demons.

Lin Yunliang, who had already planned to change course directly, forcibly stopped his steps.

“What did you say?” Lin Yunliang was truly annoyed. Why was it that when he wasn’t looking for trouble, trouble kept appearing one after another?

Cang Shu shrank his neck. It wasn’t his fault. Why was the Demon King glaring at him?

“There are three…” Cang Shu twitched his nose. His sensitive nose even identified the identities of the three minor demons.

“It’s Kui Hua, Hu Jiao, and…” Under Lin Yunliang’s displeased gaze, Cang Shu still revealed the demons’ names. “Qing Shui.”

The other two were little flower demons, and the third was a fish demon.

Lin Yunliang’s vision suddenly went black. He had clearly closed the mountain, so why were there minor demons running out? However, on second thought, if Cang Shu could run out, it meant that there might be other paths on Qingyun Mountain.

Moreover, perhaps they hadn’t run out recently. Judging by the appearance of these bandits, they should have been here for a considerable time.

Lin Yunliang originally didn’t plan to go himself. With Cang Shu around, Cang Shu could do many things. However, Siam’s reaction was not right.

Siam looked inexplicably guilty, making people suspicious.

“Did you discover something?”

How could Siam know that he was discovered so quickly? He could only brace himself and say, “I found Zhang Qing’an’s whereabouts.”

“It seems he has also been captured.”

Lin Yunliang’s face immediately turned grim. He looked at Siam with a cold indifference, his expression as if questioning him, “Didn’t you say the person was fine now?” Why did he feel Zhang Qing’an’s presence here?

Siam could only curl himself up. He was also innocent, alright. Poor kitten.

Cang Shu tilted his head, looking at the two of them, not understanding what riddle they were playing.

Since Zhang Qing’an’s whereabouts had been discovered, it was impossible to turn away. Lin Yunliang didn’t think he was being hypocritical at all. If the person was in trouble, he had to rescue him.

“Can you find their lair?”

“Yes.”

“Good, take me there.”

“Yes!” Cang Shu happily exclaimed, looking at Lin Yunliang with admiration.

He knew the Demon King wouldn’t abandon Kui Hua and the others! Long live the Demon King!

Siam, the only one who knew the truth, dared not express his anger at this moment, lest he provoke Lin Yunliang again. Seeing Cang Shu’s gaze, he thought he was still too young; it wasn’t for you.

What he cared about was always Zhang Qing’an.

However, Siam also found it strange that Zhang Qing’an shouldn’t have appeared here, yet he was present. If they hadn’t discovered him in time, something might have happened.

If the person really met with an accident, then he would be dead for sure.

The bandits’ location was not hidden; it was in a small village nearby. Lin Yunliang concealed his tracks and quietly appeared in the village.

“Can you find out which specific house they are in?”

Cang Shu twitched his nose. He found that all the auras were mixed together, making it difficult to distinguish. He could only determine a general direction.

“No, I can only know that most of them are locked up in the houses on the west side.”

The west side… The west side was all dilapidated houses, indicating that the people who originally lived there were not well-off.

Thinking of Zhang Qing’an being in such a place, Lin Yunliang felt a surging rage in his heart. It was restless.

Siam immediately said, “Don’t worry, I sense that he is not in danger yet.”

Lin Yunliang’s cold and terrifying gaze fell directly on Siam. He couldn’t believe his words right now, unless he saw it with his own eyes, he would never be at ease.

Siam knew this was his mistake. After speaking, he became quiet again.

“Cang Shu, you go and rescue the mountain demons yourself.”

“Demon King, then you…”

Before he could finish speaking, Siam covered his mouth. Isn’t this idiot not reading the room? Do you still need to say more, aren’t you afraid Lin Yunliang will deal with you before the kidnappers?

Cang Shu didn’t understand their little tricks, but he felt that Siam always seemed to know many, many things.

…

Listening to the noisy sounds outside, Zhang Qing’an leaned against the wall numbly, staring blankly at his legs. Emotions churned in his heart, hating himself for misjudging people, for falling for such a trick, and for being in such a pathetic state. In his heart, he also hoped that someone would come to save him.

However, his thoughts soon dissipated. Staring at his blood-stained knees, the pain of having his kneecaps forcibly dug out seemed to linger. He wanted to move his legs but found no response.

His heart grew even more sorrowful. He was now crippled. He probably could only live out the rest of his life like this.

Hah, thinking of how he had always been proud and strong, yet now he had fallen to such a state. Rather than living with a false hope, it would be better for him to just bash his head against something and end it all!

His hands groped around, hoping to find a stone or anything he could use to hit himself. If he had to live so miserably, he would rather die.

“Is that Young Master Zhang still alive?”

“He’s still alive. He’s just a cheap life, stubborn and hard.”

“But I think this Young Master Zhang is delicate and accustomed to luxury. Perhaps playing with him would be another kind of pleasure.”

As the sounds gradually approached from outside, Zhang Qing’an’s heart grew even more sorrowful, but he was unwilling to wait for death. Since there was nothing useful at hand, he grabbed a handful of sand in each of his palms.

People barged in, four or five burly men with lecherous eyes.

Pairs of eyes sized up Zhang Qing’an unceremoniously.

“He really is a beauty. Looks like Young Master Zhang wasn’t lying.”

Zhang Qing’an, who had figured out who had tricked him, was somewhat surprised that these people directly revealed this matter. It seemed these people didn’t intend to let him live.

He wasn’t surprised, but he was also unwilling to die here like this.

“What, you don’t want to die?” The leader laughed, rubbing his palms, looking imposing. “Then as long as you serve me well, I can still leave you with a complete corpse.”

The people beside him all burst into laughter.

Little did they know that the moment they uttered these words, death had descended upon them.